Best Micro SD Card for Samsung Phones and Which Take One

Buy a 128GB or 256GB card marked U3 and V30 from Samsung or SanDisk. On the makers’ own US stores the cheapest card with those marks is Samsung’s EVO Select, at about $45 for 128GB and $73 for 256GB. At 512GB the SanDisk Extreme is cheaper than any of Samsung’s cards, at about $138.

Check the phone first. Samsung now keeps the card slot for its cheaper Galaxy A phones and a few others, and the Galaxy S10 this page was first written about is seven generations back. Everything below comes from Samsung’s spec sheets, the SD Association and the card makers’ own pages and stores, so none of it is a judgement of how a card performs in use.

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Which Galaxy phones take a card

The card size is the largest Samsung’s spec sheet says the phone supports. A hybrid slot holds either a second SIM or a card, so you give up one to use the other.

The slot details are from Samsung’s UK, Indian and African spec sheets, and they can differ by country. Samsung’s US comparison of this year’s Galaxy A phones agrees: the A27 and A17 take SD cards of up to 2TB, and the A57 and A37 do not support external memory cards. Its page for the S26 line says external SD cards are not supported, and its comparison of the folding phones lists fixed storage sizes only.

In India the cheaper Galaxy M and F phones also take a card. Samsung India lists 2TB for the M08, M17 5G, M17e 5G, M47 5G, F17 5G, F70e 5G and F70 Pro 5G. Samsung’s tablets kept the slot too: the Galaxy Tab A11, Tab A11+, Tab S10 FE, Tab S10 Lite, Tab S11, Tab S12+ and Tab S12 Ultra are all listed at 2TB.

If you are still choosing the phone, our comparison of this year’s Galaxy A phones covers which one to buy, and our list of phones that still have a card slot covers other makers.

What the markings mean

These come from the SD Association, the body that sets the standard. Each one is a promised minimum, which is a different thing from the big number on the front of the pack.

• U1 promises a write speed of at least 10MB per second, the same floor as the older Class 10 mark. The association puts it at HD and Full HD video.
• U3 and V30 are for 4K video. With the V marks, the number is the minimum sustained speed in megabytes per second, so V30 means 30.
• A1 is about running apps. It promises at least 1,500 random reads and 500 random writes per second.
• A2 raises that to 4,000 reads and 2,000 writes. The association adds that A2 performance is available only when the phone supports A2 as well as the card.

The headline figure, such as 160MB/s, is the fastest the card can be read, and the association’s advice is to care more about the minimum. SanDisk, Lexar and Samsung each say that top speed is reached with their own card reader, and the association’s figure for the UHS-I connection these cards use is 104MB per second. Samsung’s phone spec sheets say nothing about card speed, so do not pay extra for a bigger headline number to use in a phone. The association explains the marks on its speed class page.

Apps on the card

Most apps cannot live on the card. Samsung’s microSD support page says its Android devices do not support adoptable storage, the Android feature that turns a card into part of the phone’s internal storage. You can move some apps one at a time under Settings, Apps, Storage, Change. Samsung says many apps are not eligible because their developers have ruled it out, and that preloaded apps cannot be moved at all.

So buy the card for photos, video, music and downloads, and do not pay more for A2 alone. The same page has a warning worth knowing: if you encrypt the card, decrypt it before a factory reset, because the phone will not be able to read it afterwards.

The cards compared

Speeds, classes and warranties are as each maker states them. Prices are the makers’ own US store prices for 128GB and 256GB, rounded.

Memory cards cost far more than they did. When Samsung launched this EVO Select in April 2024, its own price list had 128GB at $18.99 and 256GB at $29.99. Its store now asks $44.99 and $72.99. Samsung’s and SanDisk’s US stores also showed every size of these cards as out of stock when we looked, so treat the maker’s price as the yardstick and expect to buy from a retailer.

Samsung’s own cards

• EVO Select. The cheapest Samsung card, and at 128GB only $3 more than the SanDisk Ultra while adding U3 and V30. Samsung’s price list runs from about $32 for 64GB to $292 for 1TB, and it gives the A2 mark only from 128GB. Samsung EVO Select on Amazon
• PRO Plus. The step up, with a stated write speed of 130MB/s. It is $51 for 128GB, $80 for 256GB, $144 for 512GB and $288 for 1TB. Samsung PRO Plus on Amazon
• T7. Samsung’s new everyday card. Its German newsroom says the T7 and T9 replace the EVO Plus, PRO Plus and PRO Ultimate lines. On the US store the T7 costs the same as the PRO Plus at 128GB and 256GB, then $16 more at 512GB and $32 more at 1TB, with a three-year warranty where the PRO Plus has ten. While both are listed, the PRO Plus is the better buy. Samsung T7 microSD on Amazon
• T9. The fast one, at 200MB/s read and 130MB/s write, for $63, $100 and $200. A phone is the wrong place to spend that. Samsung T9 microSD on Amazon

In the UK, Samsung’s store had the T7 in stock at £52 for 128GB and £82 for 256GB, marked down to £35 and £55.

SanDisk, Lexar and Kingston

• SanDisk Ultra. The cheapest card with a maker’s price from 256GB up: $67 for 256GB, $113 for 512GB and $215 for 1TB. SanDisk rates it A1 and for Full HD video, and says only that write speeds are lower than read. That is enough for photos, music and downloads. SanDisk Ultra on Amazon
• SanDisk Extreme. U3 and V30, with A2 from 64GB, and the only card in the table that its maker lists at 2TB. At 512GB it is $138, less than the EVO Select at $146 and the PRO Plus at $144. The 2TB card is about $503, which is more than Samsung asks for the Galaxy A27 5G it would go into. SanDisk Extreme on Amazon
• Lexar Professional Silver Plus. V30 and A2, with a stated write speed of 150MB/s from 128GB up. The limited lifetime warranty becomes ten years in Germany and other places that do not recognise lifetime warranties. Lexar’s US site prints no prices and sends buyers to Amazon, B&H and Best Buy. Lexar Professional Silver Plus on Amazon
• Lexar PLAY. The same classes and read speed, with a five-year warranty. Lexar pitches it at games, films and music. Lexar PLAY on Amazon
• Kingston Canvas Select Plus. Kingston’s basic card. The sizes up to 256GB are U1 and V10, and only the 512GB and 1TB sizes are U3 and V30, so read the pack before buying one for 4K video. Kingston Canvas Select Plus on Amazon
• Kingston Canvas Go! Plus. U3, V30 and A2 at every size. The 64GB and 128GB sizes write at up to 100MB/s. Kingston Canvas Go! Plus on Amazon

Kingston’s website would not load for us. Its figures here are from the Internet Archive’s saved copies of Kingston’s own pages, and we could not confirm a current Kingston price.

The 2020 version of this page also listed PNY’s Pro Elite. PNY now sells the PRO Elite Prime, rated U3, V30 and A2 with a lifetime limited warranty. Its store asks about $73 for 128GB, more than every 128GB card in the table.

Avoiding fakes

The SD Association warns that a counterfeit card can be sold as 256GB and hold only 16GB, with software that makes a computer report the larger figure, and that its speeds may not match the pack. The makers do not stand behind such cards. SanDisk’s warranty covers only original SanDisk products, and says that in the US it gives no support for cards that were not sold through its authorised channels. Buy from the maker’s own store or from a retailer the maker names.

Which to pick

• Most Galaxy A phones: the Samsung EVO Select at 128GB or 256GB.
• 512GB: the SanDisk Extreme, the cheapest U3 and V30 card at that size on the makers’ stores.
• Only photos, music and downloads, at 256GB or more: the SanDisk Ultra.
• A Samsung card with a stated write speed: the PRO Plus, for its ten-year warranty against three on the T7.
• A Galaxy A37, A57, S26 or Z phone: none. Those phones have no slot.

Quick answers

Which Samsung phones have an SD card slot?

Among current models, the Galaxy A07, A08, A17, A18 and A27, the XCover7 phones, and the cheaper Galaxy M and F phones sold in India. The A37, A57, S26 line and the folding phones have none.

What size SD card does the Samsung A17 take?

Up to 2TB, by Samsung’s spec sheets for both the A17 and the A17 5G. On the UK and Indian models the card shares a hybrid slot with the second SIM.

Can I move apps to the SD card on a Samsung?

Only some. Samsung says its phones do not support adoptable storage, that many apps cannot be moved, and that preloaded apps never can.

Does the Galaxy S10 take a memory card?

Yes. Samsung UK’s table lists the S10, S10+ and S10e at up to 512GB. The S20 phones took 1TB, and the S21 line had no slot.

What is the best micro SD card for a Samsung tablet?

The same cards. Samsung lists the Galaxy Tab A11, Tab S10 FE, Tab S11 and Tab S12 tablets at up to 2TB.

Prices move, so confirm on the maker’s store before you pay.